CRS: Iraq: Turkey, the Deployment of U.S. Forces, and Related Issues, May 2, 2003

From WikiLeaks

The CRS is a Congressional "think tank" with a staff of around 700. Reports are commissioned by members of Congress on topics relevant to current political events. Despite CRS costs to the tax payer of over $100M a year, its electronic archives are, as a matter of policy, not made available to the public.

Individual members of Congress will release specific CRS reports if they believe it to assist them politically, but CRS archives as a whole are firewalled from public access.

This report was obtained by Wikileaks staff from CRS computers accessible only from Congressional offices.

On March 1, 2003, the Turkish parliament failed to pass a resolution authorizing the United States to deploy troops to Turkish territory to open a northern front in a war against Iraq. This report focuses on that political scene, Turkish concerns about an Iraq conflict, the tentative, but unfulfilled, bargain struck between the U.S. and Turkish governments to authorize the U.S. deployment, the final arrangements for U.S. access to Turkish airspace, and attendant issues. This report also reviews the implications of parliaments actions for the bilateral U.S.-Turkish relationship, regional relations, Turkeys domestic politics, its economy, and broader issues.